Problem: Michael bought a new sweater at the store when they were having a $5\%$ off sale. If the regular price of the sweater was $$44$, how much did Michael pay with the discount?
First, find the amount of the discount by multiplying the original price of the of the item by the discount. $$44$ $\times$ $5\%$ $=$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $5\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{5}{100}$ which is also equal to $5 \div 100$ $5 \div 100 = 0.05$ Multiply the discount you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of money saved. $0.05$ $\times$ $$44$ $ = $ $$2.20$ Subtract the discount you just found from the original price to get the final price Michael paid. $$44$ $-$ $$2.20$ $ = $ $$41.80$ Michael paid $$41.80$ for the sweater.